The National Institute of Health or NIH defines mental illness as a health condition that changes a person's thinking, feelings, and/or behavior. It is normal for a person with a mental illness to have difficulty functioning. Some may experience severe symptoms, while others only have a mild condition that leaves them appearing and acting normally. Mental illness can manifest itself in various forms such as schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, autistic depression, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which has become a popular diagnosis among children in recent years. A person with ADHD will display symptoms such as disorganization, feelings of worthlessness, or inappropriate guilt. While someone with schizophrenia may have false beliefs that include theories such as conspiracies, mind control, or persecution (NIH, 2013). According to Woodside and McClam (2013) before all these new scientific discoveries people believed that mental illness was caused by evil spirits. Due to lack of research/knowledge, barbaric methods were used to treat the mentally ill. One of the earliest forms of treatment was skull trepanation, which involves using a crude saw to remove the circular disks of the bones. It was believed that a hole in the head would allow evil spirits to escape. Exorcising evil spirits through religious rites was another method used as treatment. Other forms of treatment included chaining, beating, starving, and bleeding the human host. During this era there were very few people who believed in the scientific approach to treating the symptoms of mental illness. One of these people was Hippocrates, a doctor who had different beliefs from those who used barbaric methods of treatment. It was his belief that probably... half of the paper... I'm homeless and jobless. Therefore, in addition to treatment, they also need basic necessities such as food and clothing to shelter themselves. This is where human services personnel come in as they would be the ones to ensure that basic community care is provided. So far community based treatment seems to be working as there are not many mentally ill patients wandering helplessly around the community. The only thing I see happening is that many are still arrested and sentenced to prison instead of being institutionalized. However, the government has recognized this and has provided ongoing treatment while the mentally ill are incarcerated. This also includes working with incarcerated healthcare workers to ensure proper integration into society once released. Overall, it is my opinion that the government has a good system in place to care for the mentally ill.